Pleiotropic effects of heparins: does anticoagulant treatment increase survival in cancer patients?

Pleiotropic effects of heparins: does anticoagulant treatment increase survival in cancer patients? Clin Transl Oncol. 2018 Feb 22;: Authors: García-Escobar I, Beato-Zambrano C, Muñoz Langa J, Brozos Vázquez E, Obispo Portero B, Gutiérrez-Abad D, Muñoz Martín AJ, Cancer and Thrombosis Working Group of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) Abstract The association between venous thromboembolism (VTE) and cancer has been recognized for more than 100 years. Numerous studies have been performed to investigate strategies to decrease VTE incidence and to establish whether treating VTE impacts cancer progression and overall survival. Accordingly, it is important to understand the role of the hemostatic system in tumorigenesis and progression, as there is abundant evidence associating it with cell survival and proliferation, tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and dissemination, and metastasis formation. In attempts to further the scientific evidence, several studies examine survival benefits in cancer patients treated with anticoagulant therapy, specifically treatment with vitamin K antagonists, unfractionated heparin, and low-molecular-weight heparin. Several studies and meta-analyses have been conducted with a special focus on brain tumors. However, no definitive conclusions have been obtained, and more well-designed clinical trials are needed. PMID: 29470777 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Clinical Genitourinary Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Clin Transl Oncol Source Type: research